Why is it that so many people seem sick these days? I don't remember, when I was growing up, that so many people had diabetes, cancer, ulcers, chronic fatigue, and all kinds of other nasty diseases. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. You know how kids are. Anyway, Dr. Atkins, (The Diet Doctor) listed more than 40 diseases in his book that he considers diet related.
In high school I took a class in nutrition. They explained the four basic food groups to us. I wasn't too interested in hearing what the teachers had to say -- I was more interested in the cute guy at the next desk and what was going on after school. What a shock to me to discover that there really isn't a Twinkies and Nachos food group!
I was raised with a menu consisting of a chunk of meat, mashed or fried potatoes (lots of butter) and maybe a can of beans. I got married, had kids, and fed my family a chunk of meat, mashed or fried potatoes, and maybe some broccoli. So who knew? Remember, I hadn't paid attention.
I'm a lot older and a little wiser now. Meat has become a rare item on our table, and that's fine with me. The potatoes are still with us but we don't slather on the butter. We like salads, so we eat a lot of them. The supermarket is even cooperating by chopping it up in little pieces for us and putting it in those cellophane bags.
I was so proud of my progress in the nutrition department. Then, I found out we are being done a dirty deal. To feed the sheer masses of people for the least expense and loss, the farmers are picking the fruits and vegetables about two weeks before ripeness and shipping them to market. The foods supposedly ripen on the way. 70% of the nutrients in foods are goined in the last few days before the peak of ripeness.
I also discovered that we must eat all our fruits and vegetables raw. Once food reaches a temperature of 120 degrees any enzymes, or nutrients that were present in the raw food are gone. Doesn't that mean that there's virtually no chance we are getting nutrients from our food?
No wonder people are getting sick. The only decent chance we have for good health is to grow our own gardens.
The health experts tell us to eat 5 to 7 servings of raw fruits and vegetables a day for good health. How do we do that without spending all day grazing in the yard?
I have a brown thumb and the deer ate my tomatoes. This is just too scary.